


Our Promise

by blue_sappir



Category: It Lives in the Woods (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 13:12:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14165574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blue_sappir/pseuds/blue_sappir
Summary: A few weeks after the end of The Game, Dan finally reaches out to Sae, who has shut everyone out since then.





	Our Promise

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer - Choices: Stories You Play and It Lives in the Woods belong to Pixelberry Studios.

It’s been a few weeks since everything went to hell again.

Waking up to find myself in the woods, in the arms of the girl who was once my best friend. She was always the brave one, and clearly that hadn’t changed, even after all these years. Being reunited with her, and the others, one by one, seemed to finally give me the hope that perhaps, we would make it in one piece, and this nightmare would be over.

It was too good to be true.

For a moment, I thought this would have been it. The end. It was terrifying if I’m honest, but perhaps it was a mercy in disguise. No more doubting myself and thinking I’m losing my sanity… No more panic attacks. No more pain.

_No more being scared._

That last thought snapped me out of it. No, I wasn’t scared. Not anymore. All of it had been real, and I wasn’t going crazy. I knew it now. My old friends knew it, too.  _She_  knew it, too.

I vaguely remember being thrown out; I might have hit something as I fell. I was exhausted, everything hurt. But I had made it. The rules of the game were clear:  _you’re dead when you’re scared_. Jane had had no choice but to let me go.

One by one, our friends seemed to receive a similar treatment. Violently thrown out, hitting the ground hard. But alive. We were  _alive_.

After Stacy, it was supposed to be  _her_  turn. Noah said he wished he was picked to whatever Jane wanted, so she had to be the next one to join us, right? She was the bravest of the group; she would make it. She had to make it.

…So where was she?

Why wasn’t Jane throwing her out?

After what felt like forever, with our vain attempts to get back to the house, we finally saw  _her_  emerge from the house. Everyone was relieved at seeing her and rushed to meet her.

But as we did, I looked at her, really looked at her. And that was when I saw it.

Her eyes.

Haunted. Devastated.

_Broken._

I had seen her sad before. I had also seen her afraid. Hell, I had seen her  _scared_. Yet, every time I’d seen her, there was always this flame building in her eyes, as if defying those feelings, never letting them fully take over. Even when she had approached me, after so many years without either of us speaking to each other, I had managed to recognize it.

Mr. Red had never stood a real chance against that flame. It was what made her who she was.

But for the first time ever, I couldn’t find it.

Something had happened down there, and it had finally snuffed out that fire that not even Mr. Red had managed to touch.

She’s going through the motions, carrying out her daily activities, and yes, even speaking to us… when spoken to. Telling us what had happened down there in the cavern after we had been thrown out was the last thing she did, before completely shutting everything out.

_Too familiar._

Up to that point, I had thought that I could forgive Noah for what he did. I was partly responsible for this mess, too, after all.

Now? Now I wasn’t so sure.

Not after he broke her.

* * *

**No friends…**

**Not… here…? Redfield… Not here! Not here… Not here…**

**NOT! HERE! NOT! HERE! WHERE—**

**Not Mr. Red…**

**_Sae._ **

_No… No, no… **NO!**_

I try to scream, but all I manage is to gasp for air as I jerk awake, nearly falling off my bed as I try to move. I feel disoriented for a few seconds, even as I quickly realize what I had just woken up from.

_Breathe in. Breathe out. In. Out. In. Out…_

Having a nightmare wasn’t a surprise. It couldn’t be, not after all this time. They had been with me for so long that it had almost been like just another part of the routine.

_But_ she _had never been the main subject in them._

It was a ridiculous scenario, I knew. She had clearly told us what had happened. How Noah was finally able to come to his senses and taken Jane’s place as the new monster, freeing his sister and ending the game.

_Then why was this bothering me so much?_

I look at my desk, the alarm clock clearly showing the time.  _2:40 a.m._

_Maybe…_

* * *

_Idiot_ , I think to myself, even as I pull out my phone while staring at the window,  _she’s barely opening to any of us during the day… Why would she do it at 3 a.m.?_

The more obvious thought that normally would be associated with ‘3 a.m.’ only crosses my mind briefly. Somehow, I don’t think she’s asleep.

I begin typing.

**Hey.**

I get no indication at first that she’s seen it. Just as I think that perhaps she might actually be sleeping, I get a response.

**Hey.**

As I stare at the screen, I wonder what to say next.

**Can’t sleep?**  I try not to cringe at how lame that sounds.

A pause. **Says you.**

**I couldn’t.**

A longer pause, and then… **Same.**

_This is not getting anywhere._

To be honest, I don’t really know  _what_  I want to say. I don’t even know what exactly I was trying to do when I came here. From the moment I woke up, I hadn’t really thought clearly or planned anything and had just acted on impulse.

A new notification. A new message from her.

**Go home, Dan.**

Knowing her, I know she doesn’t mean to be rude. She’s obviously seen me outside her house, and it  _is_  quite late. 

It still stings.

Fragments of a hazy memory try to make themselves known.

**_I’m not staying away this time, Dan._ **

**_…It’s gonna be okay._ ** ****

**_I promise._ **

Somehow, I know it was real; at some point, that moment had happened.

She had made a promise. That she wouldn’t stay away. That it was going to be okay.

_And she was breaking that promise._

I can’t help but feel petty at that moment, and next thing I know, I’m dialing her number.

She picks up on the fifth ring.

“…You said you wouldn’t stay away.”

I fail to hide the bite in my voice and I immediately regret not trying harder to do so. Whatever it is that I want to say, it wasn’t that.

If I hurt her with my words, she doesn’t seem to show. In fact, she doesn’t say a word. But she doesn’t hang up, either. So at least she’s not dismissing me.

I try to get myself together a bit before I try again. Maybe I should try from the starting point? The reason that made me leave the house and come here?

“…I saw you,” I begin. “In the woods.  _You_  had become the new monster.”

I think I might have heard a soft intake of breath on the other side, but it’s hard to tell.

“You were forgetting who you were, yet remembering moments here and there,” I continue. “You were still there somehow, but at the same time, you were lost. That monster… It was you, but it wasn’t… not anymore.

“But you didn’t take Jane’s place. You’re here. You’re here with us.”

Silence.

“Are you really, though?”

Finally,  _finally,_  I seem to have found the words to the question that had been there since the game ended.

“……We miss you, Sae.”

She is yet to say anything. Though at this point, I’m not sure if she will say anything at all.

“I meant what I said to Jane,” I continue. “I mean, I still have nightmares. Especially after… last time. I’m willing to fight back, though. This… I’ll get over it somehow. But I need you to be there with me, Sae. …Please.”

Nothing. Just silence on the other side. I might have heard a sigh, but I can’t be sure of even that much. Instead, I hear my own.

_Well, it was worth a try._

I hang up. I already bothered her enough.

I sit down in front of her porch, taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out as I drop my head to my knees, suddenly feeling very tired. I should go home. Then I need to figure out a way to go back inside the house without mom noticing, and then try to catch at least another hour of sleep.

I’ll leave soon. I just… need a moment.

I barely register the sound of the door behind me opening and closing, or the soft footsteps approaching. But right away, I can feel her presence, as she quietly sits next to me.

For a moment, we just stay like that, no words exchanged and not even looking at each other. I wouldn’t call it comfortable, but I can’t say it’s bad, either.

“…I considered it,” her soft voice makes me look up, a questioning look in my face. “Taking Jane’s place, myself.”

Whether she noticed my surprise or not, she doesn’t acknowledge it as she continues to speak.

“But I couldn’t do it. I told myself that I was saving Noah somehow, letting him do it. That if I did it, he would never forgive himself and would likely break for good. That I could deal with carrying the guilt, instead.”

She pauses for a moment, but I think she has more to say. I don’t dare to say anything, lest she closes off again.

“But I was lying to myself. I just… I just didn’t want to die. Despite everything, I still had a wish to live. Even if I was hurting, I still had things to live for. And I—” Her voice breaks. “I couldn’t give that up.”

Her next words are so soft that I almost miss them.

“…I couldn’t give you guys up.”

That finally makes me turn to look at her. She’s not really looking at me, rather decidedly looking down, her body tense and her fists clenched on her lap.

I hesitate at first, but eventually reach out to take one of her fisted hands. She flinches, but doesn’t take her hand away. Gently, I try to loosen the fist, and she lets me.

“You said you wouldn’t stay away,” I repeat my earlier words, this time without the bitter tone.“I won’t, either. Not anymore.”

I give her hand a squeeze.

“I’m glad you’re here, Sae.”

Finally, she turns her face fully to look at me. She offers the faintest hint of a smile, just a slight lift of the corners of her mouth. But it’s a smile nonetheless, and I’ll take whatever I can get.

Then I see it in her eyes.  _A spark._ It happens so fast that I almost miss it. But I know what I saw.

And at that moment, I know. It’s going to be okay.  _We_  are going to be okay.

It will be  _our_  promise.


End file.
